It was quite the week in Lander, Wy. We got back from our training in Chicago and finished our first seed collection on Monday. As we were leaving the site we thought we would take a further look down the road but ended up getting our truck stuck in a wash out. Our first Seeds of Success collection followed by our first save our souls moment, a double SOS day. Luckily, our amazing mentor, Emma, came with snacks and shovels.

We made it home safe and sound and hoped for a better field day tomorrow, but the bad luck kept coming. Tuesday we checked on a population of Rumex only to discover it had all been eaten by caterpillars while we were in Chicago (learning about herbivory I might add).

Luckily we found an amazing population of bitterroot which happens to be Emma’s favorite flower, back on her good side after the truck incident (jokes, Emma only has good sides). We also collected seed from a Musineon plant and I have decided that umbels are my favorite plant part. It’s so satisfying to pour all of those seeds in your bag and not even come close to touching 20% of the populations.

On Wednesday we began a collection of Astragalus pershii, the woollypod milk vetch. As the name suggests it was awesome to collect. The seed pods were large and furry and I definitely played with the tiny rabbit’s foot seed pods in my bag while looking for more plants.

Thursday we finished up the A. pershii collection and started a collection of Astragalus spatulatus, which turns out to be pretty prickly. I got a bit distracted by the phenotypic shape of this mat former…

Isn’t it cute? Not to anthropomorphize, but I took it as a sign that this plant appreciates our conservation efforts. Here is a different species (did not have time to key out, too busy collecting seeds) reaffirming this message:

Friday I left to go to Portland, OR for the Evolution Conference where I met up with another CLM intern, Lia Leibman, who is stationed in Boise, ID. The CLM program is awesome for growing your network across the country. So far I’ve heard some great talks about Sagebrush, Oenothera, and Penstemon and feel extra prepared to jump back into seed collections next week back in Lander!

Leah Prescott

Lander, Wy

The trees were beginning to reach higher as the highway started to whine. The road had changed. I was heading South East when I began to notice that the road was all double lines; no passing. There were hills here. I wondered what the National Forests of East Texas would be like.

The three and a half hour drive didn’t take longer than that. I rolled into Lufkin, Texas on a Sunday evening and didn’t see the roaches on the floor of the Motel 6 until the next morning. I didn’t have to worry about another morning there as my internship mentor, Tom, had gone the extra distance for me before we had ever met. He had organized a possible place for me to live from a work colleague. All that I had to do was approve of it and move in. The place was in the middle of the woods and not a neighbor around. There were two stray dogs, a cat, and a bull and his mom to keep me company. It was very private.

On the first day I met Tom. He was different than I had imagined. His calm and patient voice on the phone did not prepare me for how he looked in real life. He was a strong fellow and a veteran. I could tell that he was used to the forests but had no idea how much he knew until the next day. He finished my paperwork that first day and I had two combinations to memorize as well as a handful of rules.

We had car trouble on the first day and almost got stuck on the second; but I’m not there yet. Tom introduced me to many people and one of them was Alan. Alan and Tom work on projects together. It was fascinating to ride in the back of the NRCS Suburban and listen to the two of them discuss the plants that they were developing together. Alan is a Master in Chemical Biology and the Manager / Supervisor for the NRCS’s Plant Research Center; otherwise known as the Experimental Forest. Tom is an experienced Botonist. So you can imagine how much info there was to take in from these two in a one hour setting (or driving).

I’m going to slow this blog down after I tell you about the second day because it is why I chose this direction in my life. Tom asked me to come in early on Tuesday and I did. I followed him out and watched his every move in order to prepare myself for the day that I would walk alone. There were backpacks and leg wraps to detour any snakes and ticks from reaching skin. Water, compass, a snack or two and something to write stuff down. I listened as he told me how to leave a trail in case I get lost. There were dartboards and sheets with check-in and out and a line for signatures.

He told me the codes and showed me where the keys were and after memorizing the codes we were driving in the Forest Service vehicle. He made one more stop and in stepped a long blond haired man in flip-flops and a T-shirt. The two talked together as they had done a million times before but I had no idea at that time what the day held in store or the fact that the flip flop guy was a scientist as well.

We drove for an hour and a half and entered the Sam Houston National Forest. I learned many words that day as we walked for TEN hours through the forests of East Texas and “stand” was one of them. I learned that a stand of trees was nothing complicated other than how they were standing in organization in the woods. The two that I was with began pointing out plants to me by their scientific name as well as their common name. I was slapped in the face with the reality of the fact that I had much to learn and following these two guys was a great place to start.

Ten hours was a long time to walk but it seemed to bother none of us. The forests were beautiful. Ten hours was blink of an eye. We almost got stuck leaving the first stand and I was got to help push. The spin of the tire threw mud all over me a few times and we finally made it out. Tom walked passed me and stopped and had a look at me. He simply said with that calm quiet voice, “Welcome to the Forest Service.”

To be continued…

Tis the season to collect seeds! This summer I’ll be in Vernal, UT which is where I’m currently wrapping up my first week collaborating with the Seeds of Success (SOS) project. There’s nothing like loads of mosquito bites and a 10 degree burn on my lower back/butt crack to remind me that the field life isn’t glamorous by any means. It’s a good thing that glitz and glamour were never my vibe because this job isn’t for the weak at heart. What an amateur move on the sunburn though! That very first day out in the field I turned to my crew and said “Last year I got a really bad sunburn on my lower back from bending over with a short shirt on.” Mid seed collection I felt that burn as I tucked my shirt back into my pants for the fifth time that day. I thought that shirt was longer than it actually was when I slipped it on that morning and was sadly disappointed by that pitiful shirt combo with my long torso.

As a veteran AIM crew member, I’m enjoying learning different techniques and a completely different project altogether, although the purpose of this project is different than what I initially expected. I thought it had a lot more to do with preserving and rescuing threatened and endangered species but it turns out we are trying to avoid collecting from these as much as possible. The main purpose of this project is to find out what species thrive best at reclamation sites with the ultimate goal of reseeding those locations with a beautiful native plant species and ultimately replacing the hideously invasive cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum). Land restoration is important, unfortunate that we even have to do it but still very important. This first plant we collected was yellow milkvetch (Astragalus flavus) a perennial in the legume family. I was pleasantly surprise to learn how easy the seeds peel off and how fast my little paper bag filled up. We also collected loads of Sphaeralcea parvifolia throughout this week. I’m sure not all species we encounter this season will be as convenient to gather but it’s nice that some are. We currently have 18 target species that we hope to collect by August.

Most field days have been a success, with a plethora of seeds to show for it but we found out that one of our target species, Cleome lutea, has a very small collection window, which is why no other group has successfully collected it. The two sites previously scouted had empty pods or under ripe seeds when we went to visit a couple days ago. We decided that we may have to camp out to successfully collect seeds from this species. I would be excited about camping if it weren’t for the fact that this site that had the most mosquitos I’ve ever seen in my life! I had a net jacket on and the little boogers still managed to bite my chin and wrists. You should see the welts these guys left behind its pretty pathetic how much mosquitos like me but I know of an awesome trick I want to share with you. Drink a couple ounces of Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) in eight ounces of water for a week and mosquitos will not touch you with a ten foot pole. I assume that’s because continual ingestion of it causes it to come out of your pores. ACV is also great for gastrointestinal issues, you just have to drink it about 30 minutes before lunch and dinner. It taste bitter but you can doll it up with a little lemon and honey. Once I’m drinking it consistently I actually acquire a flavor for it and start to crave it. Unfortunately, I just started drinking it two days ago because I didn’t expect to see mosquitos my first week. It slipped my mind that they were even a possibility! The suckers were just waiting to give me a very warm welcome back into the field lifestyle. Mosquitos or no mosquitos, I thoroughly enjoy the benefits of being out in the field. I get paid to hike and go on plant treasure hunts, exploring Martian habitats I may never have discovered and meeting new species of all types. We found a horny toad I named Ted

Astragalus flavus

Cleome lutea

Sphaeralcea parvifolia

Devil’s Playground, UT

Ted (Phrynosoma)

that was the most chill creature I’ve ever hung out with. Yea I got a little attached to it and really wanted to take him home and make him my pet but I resisted the urge and left him in his comfortable habitat. Ted, I’ll miss you buddy! He lives in Devil’s playground and will remain the devil’s play pet. I look forward to many more adventures and also to sharing those experiences with all you cool cats.

Cheers,

V

In my 24 years of living, I have maybe encountered 7 mosquitos in California. In the last month, I have probably been fed on, at least 700 times. Currently, I am simultaneously typing with one hand and scratching both feet with the other. My mistake was wearing Chacos on the drive back from Coldfoot with a healthy population of mosquitoes thriving in our car.

A month has gone by rather quickly. On my bike ride to work, I can see all sorts of wildflowers blooming-taking in the only three months of constant sunshine they will get all year. I, myself, am also trying to take in as much sun possible. I’ve spent a decent amount of time on Chena Hot Spring Road, dogsitting for a family who works in the office. Somehow, I always find myself picking up this kind of gig over the summer (flashback to Susanville). I’m extremely grateful to Chel Ethun, for allowing me to stay in her cozy house with her cozy dogs, Pickles and Anabelle. Side note: Pickles doesn’t actually eat pickles.

Pickles waiting for me to feed him in the morning.

Since AK is really big, we have a couple of field stations spread out throughout the state. Unlike the BLM office in Susanville, a lot of our sites are 7-12 hours away. So, our options are to camp, or stay at field stations. Most of my work this summer will be out of the Chicken Field Station in the small town of Chicken-it is super NICE! It is fully equipped with beds, wifi, hot water, showers, a full kitchen, a TV…the whole enchilada.

While I was in Chicken, I helped conduct wildlife and vegetation surveys at a reclaimed mine site. I worked with Casey Burns, the Wildlife Program Lead, and two contractors from the Salcha-Delta Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD), Jeff Mason and Bryan Strong. We also had a UAF student, Renee Nowicki, act as our “residential entomologist.” We spent the first couple of days delineating four plots and one control, which all varied in reclamation year. The goal was to collect all of our data from small mammal traps, bird counts, line point intercept (LPI), grazing, scat count, pollinator, plot characteristics, and insect surveys. Our insect surveys entailed searching for ants and setting six bumble pots, traditionally called bee bowls, in each plot. For the ant search, I followed Renee around while we flipped rocks and searched for colonies. Then, she used an aspirator to suck them into a container through a tube! I wish I had a video of that! I spent a fair amount of time applying 100% deet all over my body, but somehow, it was not enough. However, I’m pretty sure that by the end of the summer, by body will naturally be producing deet, which will save me a lot of money for next year. On the drive back to Fairbanks, I got to see the Alaska Range for the first time! It was unlike anything I had ever seen before. It was so unbelievable. But, I didn’t take any pictures. Sorry.

The following week, I decided to join the crew for another week of surveying. This time, our site was thirty minutes south of Coldfoot, at Jubilee Mine. Unfortunately, on the morning of our second day, we had an eye injury, which required an immediate evacuation, and a stressful drive back on the Dalton. Luckily, I only hit one rough patch, and after six hours, we made it back to the ER in Fairbanks. The patient is doing well, and it was a non-life threatening accident. Enter mom rant HERE. Please be careful using bungee cords in the field. If it doesn’t reach, it’s not worth it. Eye injuries are very serious, so please be safe. End mom rant. I really wish I could have taken pictures of the drive on the way back, but the timing was, obviously, not appropriate. If I get a chance to go back north, I will definitely upload better pics. However, I was able to get a “I crossed the Arctic Circle on the Dalton Highway” tee.

Yukon River

I made it to the Arctic Circle!

Well, it’s no wonder time goes by quickly. I’ve spent the last 3 weeks moving around from Chel’s house to Chicken to Coldfoot. In the upcoming weeks, I have planned to attend an invasive species training workshop in Fairbanks and a sedge identification workshop in Anchorage. It’ll be my first time in Anchorage, so I am stoked!

On my personal time, I’ve been volunteering at the herbarium in the Museum of the North at UAF. Hopefully soon I can start volunteering at the entomology lab too! I have also been birding with a group at Creamers Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge. Later, I have a botany trip planned with the Alaska Native Plant Society (ANPS). AND…I’ll be going to Denali soon! Basically, I’m slowly settling down some roots in Fairbanks, in hopes of staying here longer.

Here is a list of common plants I’ve seen near Fairbanks, Chicken, and Coldfoot…So won’t the real plant nerds, please stand up, please stand up (Eminem).

Astragalus alpinus

Mertensia paniculata

Polemonium acutiflorum

Polemonium pulcherrimum

Polemonium pulcherrimum

Cardamine purpurea

Epilobium angustifolium

Epilobium latifolium

Vaccinium uliginosum

Hedysarum alpinum

Potentilla norvegica ssp. monspeliensis

Cerastium beeringianum

Ledum palustre ssp. Groenlandicum

Hedysarum mackenzii

Oxytropis campestris

Potentilla spp.

Vaccinium vitis-idaea

Spirae beauverdiana

Cornus canadensis

Cornus Canadensis

Eriophorum spp.?

Salix alaxensis

Salix arbusculoides

Salix scouleriana

Salix pulcha

Gallium boreale

Betula neoalaskana

I find myself overwhelmed with how much there is to see and I think my writing reflects that. I apologize if I was all over the place, but I have a hard time keeping track of my days.

Let me begin by saying I am a New Yorker by birth and by heart. But, I cannot (and will not) go on and on about how great New York City is. For one thing, I am not a big fan of cities. For another, I grew up far from NYC–where dairy cattle, cornfields, vineyards, and old small towns dominate the landscape.

Through the CLM Internship Program I have found myself ~2,700 miles from home at a little place (~50,000 acres) called the Cosumnes River Preserve (CRP) in Galt, California. Much like the town that I grew up in, the name probably means very little to outsiders. What I did know before coming out here was that it was somewhere in the Central Valley and somewhere about 30 minutes south of Sacramento (a name I was familiar with). However, having never been further west than the Detroit Airport, this still did not mean a whole lot to me. What I soon found out was that it isn’t too awfully different from home. I have found all the cattle, corn, vineyards, and small towns you could ask for, but also so much more.

Here at the CRP we fall under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management’s Mother Lode Field Office which is in Folsom, California. If that sounds familiar, it may just be because a pretty famous country artist once wrote a pretty famous song about a prison there, but I digress. While the Mother Lode Field Office is quite substantial in terms of the area managed and the staff based at that office, the CRP is fairly small in comparison. As a partnership, there are many people involved here. That means that on a daily basis I get to interact not only with people from the BLM (my mentor included) but also with people from The Nature Conservancy and other partners. Nevertheless, the office is fairly small and we keep ourselves fairly busy.

There is no shortage of stuff that needs to be done. Managing riparian and wetland habitat for waterfowl, while also working to maintain and conserve habitat that is rare and imperiled in the Central Valley Region of California, is no small chore. Having just started on June 5th, before attending the Chicago Botanic Garden CLM Training Workshop, I am still learning the ins and outs of day-to-day operation here. However, one thing that has become clear, as my mentor likes to say, there is always more work to do. Working with a Youth Conservation Corps crew, providing trail maintenance, and planning for future projects are just a few things that have kept me busy. With more training in my future, I have my eyes set on getting out in the field and helping to control our invasive aquatic species– primarily water primrose (Ludwigia hexapetala) and a handful of other terrestrial and aquatic plants that make managing for native and natural wetland/riparian habitat difficult.

After quite a trek by car and some settling in, I have had interesting run-ins with wildlife, dealt with heat I never dreamed of, and learned so much in the first 2 weeks here at my new “home” that I cannot wait to see what the next 5 months bring. While I have mostly been preoccupied with training, I hope to have plenty more to post about next time (especially more about the beautiful flora and fauna).

-Tyler-

(BLM Mother Lode Field Office–Folsom, CA)

Cosumnes River Preserve–Galt, CA

Sunset on the hot California Delta

The MAIM (Modified AIM) crew and our mentor – Joanna Tjaden

It’s been a bit of a whirlwind, but I have now been living and working in Idaho for just over a month. I work in the Shoshone Field Office of the Bureau of Land Management as a range tech intern along with three other CBG interns and two crew leads. We don’t really have range (as far as I know) east of the Mississippi so I’m excited to learn more! Right now that means we are monitoring ground cover to learn more about sage grouse habitat, but next week we’ll wrap that up and move on to other projects. I’m particularly excited about going out with Idaho Fish and Game to look at insects and plant clearances (looking for sensitive plant species).

Davis Mountain Road

The landscape and climate is dramatically different from the hot, humid, and patchy forests of Southeastern Virginia where I worked before. I am still amazed at how far you can see here without hills, trees, or buildings to interrupt the view. It felt strange at first, but the incredible views and tiny wildflowers are winning me over.

Callochortus nuttallii (Sego Lily)

Eriogonum sp.

So far I’ve learned a lot! The first week or two included training in some important skills including first aid, defensive driving, changing a tire and how to recognize hazardous materials that might explode or kill you. Best of all though, I’ve picked up all kinds of useful information about the local flora and botany, more generally just from being surrounded by people who are excited about plants every day!

It’s week 4 of my internship with the BLM here in the beautiful Roseburg, Oregon and activities are in full swing! Seed collection season began just recently, and we (me and my co-intern, Mira) are kept busy by tracking down target plant species using previously recorded GPS data and determining if they are ready for seed collection. Not gonna lie, it’s probably one of my favorite things to do. I’ve gotten way better at reading maps, using GPS, and keying out inconspicuous-looking grasses—not to mention, I think I’m getting pretty great at driving the huge truck they let us use for field work. I’d just like to say that my appreciation for trucks has grown tenfold over the past month. Those things can drive over things that would probably destroy my little Altima. ArcGIS remains my greatest nemesis, but I’m confident that I’ll get better at it by the end of my five months. “Better” of course is a relative term, but let’s not dwell on that.

Bromus carinatus, one of the grasses we’ll be collecting seed from.

Calochortus coxii, one of our endemic plants.

Boss and co-intern looking out over the oak savanna as we prepare to trek down and remove invasive plants

Right now one of our bosses has us working on an awesome project to collect the seeds of plants that will help promote native pollinators in the North Bank Habitat Management Area. One thing I’ve come to learn throughout this is the truly fleeting nature of seed collection for many of the species we’re to collect. It all depends on the species and the location of the population; one week you can drive up a ridge and find a lovely almost-ripe population of Danthonia californica, and the next you can drive up to the same ridge and discover a sea of yellow husks! It’s certainly something that’s going to keep us on our toes for the rest of the season. If we’re going to collect enough seeds for the project, we’ll need to be out as often as possible hiking around and checking populations to determine readiness.

All in all, these past four weeks have been fantastic and I wouldn’t trade them for the world. I’ve learned a truly impressive number of new plants and picked up a whole new set of skills. I’ve become braver in my nature explorations and seen many beautiful things. I think my klutziness may even be decreasing.

I honestly can’t wait for what the rest of my time here has to offer.